Before the advent of electronic sound amplification, public speaking and performing was typically accomplished by vocal projection in an effort to communicate to, by today's standards, small crowds and audiences. In rural areas, speakers have historically been, and to some extent still are, limited in clearly communicating their messages to large numbers of people at one time. Indeed, politicians have been known to stand on tree stumps and plead for constituent's votes. However, “stumping,” as it is called, has always limited the communicator to reaching just the people within the sound of the communicator's unamplified voice.
Yet, with the invention of sound amplification devices, speakers at churches, civic organizations and even outdoor arenas are able to communicate their message to a greater number of people through electronic microphones, amplifiers and speakers placed within the facility or arena. Indeed, many such facilities are electronically prewired with sound amplification equipment so that speakers and other performing artists can speak to or perform before a greater number of people.
However, a problem exists where people attempt to communicate to groups, crowds, etc. at facilities that are not necessarily prewired for sound amplification. Even today, many speakers and other performing artists are limited by either the number of people who can hear their unamplified voice or by venues having sound systems, as many venues are not electronically wired for sound amplification.
Speakers, such as preachers and politicians, and other performing artists commonly travel to areas that are not equipped with sound amplification equipment. As a result, the message or performed art cannot generally be viewed or heard by a large number of people. For that reason, speakers and other performing artists sometimes bring their own sound amplification equipment in an attempt to communicate with larger audiences. Because of the size of such equipment and the number of requisite components, this oftentimes results in the speaker or other performing artist having to arrange for special transportation (i.e., a separate truck or trailer) for the sound amplification equipment. Indeed, in this instance, assistance in unloading and assembling the equipment prior to the event is common due to the size and number of components. Likewise, disassembly of the equipment and reloading of the truck or trailer after the event typically involves assistance. Plus, in each case, planning and supervision are typically required.
In many instances, this is impractical for individuals who merely desire to deliver a speech to a school, a church, a civic organization, or to some other small venue where it is impractical to also bring a large amount of sound amplification equipment. For example, many politicians attempt to get their message out to as many people as possible in as short a period of time as possible; therefore, continually erecting and taking down sound amplification equipment is not practical for a politician who may have a number of speaking engagements in one day. Thus, in this nonlimiting example, the politician typically either utilizes venues previously equipped with appropriate sound amplification equipment, which may be too expensive to obtain or otherwise be unavailable, or they use their unamplified voice and hope to reach as many people as possible.
At least one attempt to solve these problems is found in devices where an amplifier mixer, speakers, and microphones are prepackaged together as a single unit. In such devices, the speakers are latched to the amplifier so that the unit is relatively small and capable of being transported by one or a small number of people. Upon arrival at the desired location, which may not have adequate sound amplification equipment, the speakers can be unlatched and electrically connected to the amplifier mixer, which itself may be connected to, for example, a microphone.
However, the problem with these types of units is that, because the speakers are commonly one of the larger components of the unit, insuring secure transport of the device is difficult. Securing the speakers to these types of units for transport in a way that allows safe handling of the unit and protection of the equipment must be considered. For if the speakers become unattached from the unit during transport, damage to the equipment and/or injury to the handler could result.
Consequently, some such systems include latches or other coupling components to secure the speakers to the unit during non-use and/or transportation between events. When the components are unpacked and prepared for use, the latches or other metal coupling components on the speakers vibrate during performances, thereby introducing undesirable sound effects into the speech or other performed art.
For these reasons then, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies.